Thoughts

The story follows Timmy Chamalet as Marty Mauser, a young Jewish man struggling to get by in early 1950s New York City as a hustling ping pong player. The opening act shows him overseas in London almost winning a major table tennis tournament, but losing embarrassingly in the final round to a stoic Japanese man with far superior skill than him.

I have mentioned this film a number of times in my journeys, primarily because of the stranglehold the concept of it has had on me. Needless to say, I finally got around to it (so I can get a good grade). I was not only mesmerized and unable to peel my eyes off the screen, but my expectations as a whole were completely shattered, in the best way possible. The Holy Mountain follows a thief, cleverly dressed as Jesus Christ, venturing through a heightened reality filled with re

We lost Gene Hackman this past year, the legendary actor and star of The French Connection (1971), directed by William Friedkin. This film is dark and gritty, and exactly the kind of realistic action/thriller I live for experiencing. Hackman portrays Popeye Doyle, a tough-as-rocks narcotics agent on the tail of a big international heroin score.

The performances by Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright steal the show. Fantastic comedic and tense moments are offset by a majority of cringeworthy dialogue and the most awkward scoring choices I’ve ever heard. It felt like watching a soap opera at more than a handful of moments. Going off of that, the police dialogue had to be some of the worst I’ve ever seen. The redeeming moments are within the tense action scenes, led by the direction of Lee with Denzel on the move.

As Thompson’s professional career developed, so did his retreat into his alter-ego and pseudonym, Raoul Duke.